


Dollhouse

by BluebellWinter



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: And he killed a guy, Attempted Murder, He's abusive to him, M/M, Now a two-shot, Reggie gets a happy ending though, Reggie has an older brother, Seriously the brother is a piece of shit, Should I bump the rating up?, Their parents just ignored what was going on, nothing to graphic, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29594010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluebellWinter/pseuds/BluebellWinter
Summary: It wasn't normal for you to be scared of your own sibling. Reggie realized that when he was seven and his older brother was nine.--Or in which Reggie has an older brother who bullies him. From the brief stories that he tells them, his friends realize that Reggie's brother is a jerk.And at the end, they find out how much of a complete monster Reggie's brother actually is.
Relationships: Luke Patterson/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 77





	1. The Kitchen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't normal for you to be scared of your own sibling. Reggie realized that when he was seven and his older brother was nine. 
> 
> Now that Reggie was older and his brother's bullying got worse and worse, culminating into attempted murder.

> _“No one ever listens, this wallpaper glistens,_
> 
> _One day they’ll see what goes down in the kitchen.”_
> 
> Dollhouse – Melanie Martinez

It really wasn’t normal to be scared of your own sibling. Reggie realized that when he was seven and his brother was nine. Reggie was terrified of thunderstorms and his brother, Michael, _lovingly_ locked him in the shed for the entire night during one, just to “help him get over his fear” he told their parents.

Their parents didn’t give a shit. They didn’t even notice that Reggie was missing for the entire evening.

Needless to say that his fear of storms had worsened and that incident gave him a fear of the dark too.

Then when Michael found out he know had a fear of the dark, Reggie was locked in the basement for three days on Michael’s instance. While he was locked down in the basement, their parents and Michael basically dismantled his room looking for more porn. They didn’t and Reggie had to put everything back together in his room after his ‘punishment’ was over.

When Reggie was eight, Michael had pushed him down the stairs, and started taunting him, especially taking pleasure in misgendering Reggie by calling him a girl.

When Reggie was nine, Michael started throwing things at him. Then Michael got a soccer ball and found that Reggie was a good target to kick the ball at.

When Reggie was ten and got his first bass, Michael proceeded to break it after a month. The hitting started when Michael realized he could do damage with his fists and decided that Reggie made a very good punching bag.

Then when Reggie was eleven and trying to write music, his songs ended up down the toilet where “shit belonged.”

He was twelve when the dunking started up. Michael was fill a bathtub up with water and shove Reggie’s head in it. It was either the tub or a swirlie, and Reggie was pretty sure that Michael peed in either one before he got dunked.

When Reggie was fourteen and considered trying out for basketball, Michael said, “Ah, yes. Join the basketball team so you can check out other guys in the locker room. Get your peep on you fucking perv.”

How the hell did Michael know that Reggie was going through a bisexual crisis, Reggie would never know. Reggie figured that Michael said that to get under Reggie’s skin and to humiliate him. In the end, Reggie didn’t try out for the basketball team, but his brother had a point. He would be a perv if he joined. What made him think that was a good idea, he wouldn’t know.

Of course when Michael started smoking pot at fifteen, Reggie hoped that it would mellow Michael out of his daily routine of tormenting him, but somehow Michael found time to do it. He, once again, put porn under Reggie’s mattress and sent their parents after him. Of course his parents didn’t believe Reggie and he was locked in the basement away from everything, as punishment.

When Michael was sixteen and started dating, Reggie found out very quickly that his bed was used when Michael started having sex with his girlfriends. (He still does it, even now.)

Then Reggie joined a band called Sunset Curve before switching to Julie and the Phantoms when Julie joined, and Michael went out of his way to call the band homophobic slurs out of their earshot and then pushed Reggie into the ocean for the sole reason of Reggie being a ‘bitch-ass pussy’ for being in Julie and the Phantoms.

Reggie still got the regular dunking, swirlies, and beatings but luckily it wasn’t anywhere on his face that would make it obvious.

In public, Michael would act like they were good friends just to watch Reggie squirm because he thought it was funny.

Reggie wished his friends would see that Michael was evil in human form. Of course he’s exaggerating but putting up with Michael’s abuse for a decade, day-in and day-out and possibly a little earlier than seven, he deserved to exaggerate.

He wasn’t sure why if their parents didn’t notice it because they were to busy arguing or if they noticed it and just didn’t care, thinking “Boys will be boys.”

* * *

The first one who thought Michael was a dick was Bobby. It was after Michael drove them to a venue after picking up Alex, Luke, and Bobby.

The only reason Michael agreed to drive them was because Reggie bribed Michael with the money that he will receive just for the ride because Bobby's older brother, Derek, had their only mode of transportation.

Michael put up a good front, chatting happily to Reggie’s band-mates, like he wasn’t purposely trying to make Reggie squirm at the false pretense of pretending to be anything but evil in human form. It was surprising to Reggie that Michael knew all of Luke’s and Alex’s favorite bands and all of Bobby's favorite movies.

Reggie was squirming in his seat, at how uncomfortable he was growing because of Michael getting along with his friends.

Michael saw the squirming and snapped, “If you piss in my car, I’ll make you lick it up, ass-face!”

Bobby's eyes widened at that.

“Sorry!” Reggie said quickly. He had no doubt that Michael would actually make him lick it up if he did pee himself.

“I’m just teasing you,” said Michael with a forced laugh. “Stop being such a goddamn wimp.”

Reggie forced a laugh, “Right, silly me.”

The worst thing is that Reggie knew that no one would believe him if he told him how Michael really treated him. Sometimes Reggie couldn't believe it himself, considering how Bobby and Derek were friendly towards each other, even though they had their arguments.

When they got to the venue, Michael actually helped them arrange their equipment backstage.

Reggie was glad that Michael was going to take off, it was like Michael was taking his sweet time, for added discomfort. Julie, Alex, and Luke thanked Michael for his help. Bobby just muttered a thanks, his mind still racing over the interaction that Michael and Reggie had.

“Aren’t you going to tell him thank you?” Julie asked Reggie, confused.

Michael seemed to brighten, “Yes.” He punched Reggie’s shoulder, way harder than necessary. Reggie tried not to move so it would look gentle. “You better show me some fucking respect, pipsqueak.”

“ _You don’t deserve any,_ ” Reggie wanted to say, but he said, “Right. Thank you.”

Michael glared at Reggie, which basically read, “ _Take your thanks and shove it up your ass, you pansy-assed fucker._ ” Reggie knew that afterwards, he was going to get a swirlie or a bathtub dunk when they got home, even after Michael got the cash.

Michael left anyway.

“He seemed cool,” said Luke when Michael was gone.

“Yeah,” said Alex.

Bobby looked at the two, “Did you both not hear what he said to Reggie, though? He was a bit of a dick.”

“He’s just rough around the edges,” said Reggie.

He couldn’t believe he was sticking up for Michael, but again, his friends really wouldn’t believe him.

After the concert and picking them up to drop them off, Michael waited ‘til Bobby got in his home before Michael started on a tirade about how he wasted his time picking up Reggie’s friends, using homophobic slurs while at it, even after Reggie handed him the money.

“You know that one of them is actually gay, right?” asked Reggie.

“And they’re a lot manlier than you will ever be, you little bitch!” snapped Michael ignoring Reggie.

That stung, because in a way, Reggie knew that it was true.

When they got home, Michael practically dragged Reggie out of the car to shove Reggie’s head in the toilet.

“Are you sorry?” demanded Michael after Reggie was let up.

“Yes,” said Reggie after catching his breath. “But I think I saw something down there.”

That confused Michael, “What? What did you see?” That was the only time that Michael was actually civil to him.

“Your future,” replied Reggie. He got another swirlie for that one, and the pink-eye that he received afterwards was fucking worth it.

* * *

The second person who thought Michael was a dick was actually Flynn. They were at Bobby’s house watching _The Big Lebowski_ because Bobby wanted to.

Reggie wasn’t complaining when Luke decided to lay his head on Reggie’s shoulder. He tried to look bored whenever he saw Flynn, Julie, Alex, and Bobby smirking at him. Reggie definitely kept his arms to himself, even though he really wanted to put his arm around Luke’s shoulders.

When The Dude got his head shoved in a toilet, Luke asked, “Is that even real?”

“Obviously he got his head dunked in a toilet for the movie, dumb-ass,” said Bobby.

“No,” said Luke. “I mean, has anyone ever been dunked in a toilet before?”

“It’s obviously a myth,” said Alex. “I never met anyone who got dunked in a toilet and I never saw it happen.”

“It’s actually called a swirlie,” said Julie. “My dad told me that and I think it was a thing in the seventies and eighties.”

“My brother gave me one after we got home last week from that gig,” said Reggie shrugging. Luke lifted his head to look at Reggie in surprise.

“The way you said it…” Alex said, “That was way too casual.”

“He used to do it a lot when I was younger,” Reggie admitted. It was true. He got one every day, but now it was at least one every now and then.

“Apparently he still does it too when he did that to you a week ago,” said Bobby, looking concerned. “Should I punch him in the face for you?” He really wanted to punch Michael in the face, anyway. He just didn't like how Michael spoke to Reggie and now knowing that he gave his band-mate swirlies, he really didn't like Michael.

“Nah, its just brotherly rivalry,” said Reggie. “I once put a bunch of chili peppers in some food that I made because I knew that he was going to take it.”

In hindsight, that was probably why his second bass got destroyed.

Alex turned to look at Bobby, who just shrugged. To Bobby, there was something about Reggie’s relationship with Michael just seemed…off. Bobby wasn’t sure why, discounting the way Michael talked to Reggie and the swirlies that Michael apparently gives him.

“Your brother sounds like a jerk, though,” said Flynn. “Continuously giving you swirlies, though? That’s not right.”

Julie nodded, looking at Reggie concerned.

“I mean, getting swirlies isn’t _that_ bad. It’s kind of fun actually,” said Reggie.

Luke was now looking at Reggie in disbelief, “I doubt it.”

“Want me to give you one?” asked Reggie.

Needless to say, that Reggie ended up giving his friends swirlies. Flynn and Julie gave one to each other. It was pretty awkward when Derek walked in and saw Reggie giving Bobby a swirlie, and kind of freaked out at the sight, yelling, "Excuse you! What the fuck are you doing to my brother?"

Later that night, Michael had his five friends over on of the rare occasion that their parents weren’t home. Reggie, unfortunately, walked into the kitchen to see that they were smoking weed. Reggie refused to acknowledge their presence in favor of getting something out of the fridge. Apparently that was something Michael didn’t like and threw an apple at Reggie’s face, hitting him in the eye.

Reggie forced back a wince because he knew that Michael just wanted to humiliate him in front of Michael’s friends.

“That was uncalled for, dude,” said Chris. Reggie was sure that he was Chris. Chris was looking at Reggie a little worried, before he looked at Michael, who glared at him, and Chris, wisely, kept his mouth shut.

After Michael’s friends left, he heated up the tines of a fork and pressed into Reggie’s inner arm because Michael had gotten called out for throwing an apple at Reggie. Reggie knew that it was going to leave a scar. Then he watched as Michael flushed one of Luke’s songs down the toilet.

The next day, Reggie couldn’t even come up with a lie to explain the four lines that had been burned into his arm. Luke kept pushing him, but all Reggie could do was shrug in response. As much as he liked Luke, he got irritated with the questions and Luke decided to leave it alone for now.

* * *

The third person was Luke who realized that Michael was a dick.

It was two days later after the incident with the fork and Reggie was with Luke in the studio, waiting for the others to show up.

“I’m going to need another copy of your song,” Reggie said. He finally found the courage to ask for it, even though it was two days after. He was more worried over how Luke would respond to it getting flushed down the toilet.

Luke asked, “What happened to it?”

Reggie ran his thumb over the four lines on his inner arm. He grimaced, “Michael flushed it down the toilet.”

“Why?” demanded Luke, taking offense to that.

“He thought it was one of my songs and flushed it down the toilet,” said Reggie, way to casually.

“Why would he do that?” asked Luke, looking even more insulted.

“He says that’s where shit belongs,” said Reggie with a shrug.

“Has that happened before?” Luke said, “Because that tone you used was way to causal.”

Reggie nodded, “Many times.”

Luke made a face, “That’s soul-crushing.”

“Its fine,” replied Reggie. “My songs were shitty anyway.”

Luke got up and grabbed the sides of Reggie’s head. He made Reggie look him in the eye. “Listen here and listen closely,” Luke said in a low voice. “I don’t know him that well, but from what I’m now hearing, he sounds like a dick.”

 _If only they knew…_ Reggie thought.

“Are you listening?” asked Luke.

“Yes. You said that you don’t know Michael that well, but from what you’re hearing, he sounds like a dick,” said Reggie.

“Okay, good,” said Luke. “I just want to tell you that your songs aren’t shitty. They could use a little more work, sure, but they’re good. They definitely don’t belong in the toilet.”

“You know, when he gave me a swirlie, he lifted my head and I said, ‘ _I think I saw something down there_ ,’ and he goes ‘ _what_?’ and I reply with, ‘ _your future_ ’. It was worth getting another swirlie.” Luke seemed amused by that. “Are you going to let go of my face?”

“No,” said Luke.

So, Reggie did the stupidest thing in his life (discounting fixing his amp in the rain and insulting his brother, which resulted in a broken wrist, when Reggie was eleven) and kissed Luke…right on the mouth.

And Reggie regretted it before pulling away. What was he thinking? Luke was _way_ out of his league, which Michael helpfully keeps pointing out because somehow he knows these things. It must’ve been a gift from Satan himself as a way for Michael to inflict maximum emotional pain onto Reggie. So Reggie rushed out, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean—”

And Luke kissed him this time.

Later at home, Reggie was forced down in a bathtub full of water and was held down by his brother, because it was like Michael smelt happiness on him and just had the need to destroy it.

He struggled to get out and wasn’t even sure how long he had been held down underwater, but he started seeing darkness.

Then he was on the ground, coughing and gagging, struggling to get his bearings back.

“Are you trying to kill your brother!” their dad yelled. “Seriously, what the fuck was that?”

“He could’ve gotten out at any time, old man!” Michael yelled back. “It’s not my fault he didn’t even use his fucking brain to sit up!”

Reggie just wished his dad would leave because Michael was going to worsen his bullying.

But it did make Reggie wonder, what the hell was that? Was Michael really attempting to kill him?

* * *

The fourth person was Julie. It was two days after the bathtub incident and Reggie didn’t want to be at home alone with Michael afterwards. He was sure that it was a valid fear.

He was jittery, because the incident really must’ve fucked with his head. God, what the hell was that about? Why didn’t his dad call the police to get Michael arrested after witnessing that?

“Are you okay?” asked Julie.

“I’m fine,” said Reggie.

“It’s like your vibrating,” said Julie. “Have you been drinking a lot of caffeine?”

“I’m fine…just…did you ever pull any pranks on Carlos when you two were younger?” asked Reggie.

“That depends…what kind of pranks?” asked Julie.

“Well, Michael once sat on me and farted ‘til I passed out, he once duct-taped me to an exercise machine and turned it onto the highest setting to see what happens, and he once locked me in the shed during a thunderstorm…” Reggie started.

“Reggie, no offense, but your brother’s being a complete bully to you,” said Julie horrified. “What he’s doing to you isn’t pranks. That’s abuse. From the sound of it, it’s been going on a lot longer than you’re letting on. And if he’s continuing to do stuff like that to you, you can get him arrested because he’s assaulting you, and since you’re under eighteen, he’s technically assaulting a minor.”

 _Wait ‘til you find out who really caused the four burn scars on my arm and his attempted drowning,_ Reggie thought. Instead he said, “It’s not that bad. It’s minor stuff.”

“He keeps giving you swirlies,” said Julie.

“Which isn’t as awful as it sounds,” said Reggie. “You experienced one, too.”

“Not on a constant basis like what you implied,” said Julie.

And maybe it was worse than Reggie had originally thought. It was just something that he had gotten far used to, so it didn’t seem as bad as he thought.

He could call the police and file a report against Michael, but deep, deep down, he loved his brother, despite the fear he felt towards Michael and all the shit Michael put him through, he couldn’t do it.

Getting punched in the stomach later and getting locked in the basement for daring to come home, could’ve been a better experience. Getting beaten up afterwards wasn’t the highlight of his evening. No. Getting drowned three more times was the highlight of his evening. Chris was the one who found them and after Chris distracted Michael long enough by yelling, “what the fuck?” Reggie got out of the tub and made a run for it.

In hindsight, maybe he should’ve called the police, since Chris saw it with his own eyes and could act as a witness. It surely would’ve saved a life.

* * *

Alex was the fifth and last person to comment on it. Reggie was pretty soaked through after the drownings and Luke had the shock of his life when he found Reggie curled up in a corner of his bedroom, sobbing.

“What happened?” asked Luke asked, worried.

And for some reason, all Reggie could do was tell Luke about getting locked in the basement, trying to make it sound less awful than it sounded.

Fortunately, (or unfortunately), Luke knew him better than that, and the fact that Reggie was still damp from his three dips in the bathtub.

“So, why are you soaked?” asked Luke.

Reggie refused to say anything and just shook his head. So Luke went to get Reggie a towel, because Reggie was making the carpet wet, and called Alex and Bobby, because he figured that their support would mean a lot to Reggie.

As much as Luke refused to admit it, he was kind of jealous of how close Reggie and Bobby were. It kind of disgusted Luke over how happy he was that Reggie came to him first in his distressed state.

“What happened?” asked Alex.

“Was it your douche-bag brother?” asked Bobby.

Reggie finally explained the whole basement thing and very reluctantly admitted to Michael drowning him in the bathtub, skipping out on how it was the fourth time.

Just hearing what Michael did made Luke go cold all over.

What the actual fuck?

And Luke thought Michael was _cool_?

Then Reggie admitted that his brother would force his head underwater in the bathtub growing up, but he wouldn’t drown him like he recently did.

Again. What the actual fuck?

Alex looked horrified at what Reggie said.

“Guys,” said Bobby happily. “I know who we’re going to kill today.”

“Bobby, no,” said Alex, sounding a little distressed. “Michael is not worth going to jail over.”

“He tried to kill Reggie many, many times,” said Bobby. “Reggie will be better off without his ‘brother’ in his life.”

“I would prefer not having my friends in prison,” said Reggie.

Bobby deflated, like he really was hoping that Reggie would let him kill Michael.

“How about you call the police on him?” asked Alex. “That was attempted murder.”

Reggie shrugged, “Would they actually believe me if no one was around to see it? It’s my word against his.” Again, he wasn’t telling the whole story and there were actually two witnesses. However he loved his brother and he wanted to protect him. It was stupid of him to want to do that since his brother wanted to _kill_ him, but there was this strange bit of family loyalty that he felt so he didn’t say anything, until, “Yeah, I think I would do that.” He wasn't actually going to.

Alex seemed relieved and Luke pecked Reggie’s lips.

“Really you guys?” said Bobby, with a fake groan, but there was a smile tugging at his lips, like he was happy that they got together.

* * *

_“9-1-1 what’s your emergency?”_

_“I got a dead kid in my yard.”_

_“A dead kid?”_

_“Well, he’s actually a teenager, maybe eighteen or nineteen.”_

_“And you say he’s dead?”_

_“Well, he’s not moving and I shook him a few times and he didn’t respond.”_

_“Does he have any visible wounds?”_

_“Well, it looks like he has been beaten prior to probably being dropped off on my lawn.”_

_“Can you check to see if he’s still breathing? He can be breathing shallowly.”_

_“Okay, I’ll check.”_

_…_

_“Ma’am? Ma’am, are you still there?”_

_“I can’t believe it! He’s still alive!”_

_*Barely audible groan, presumably from victim*_

_*distantly* “Hey, who did this to you?”_

_*inaudible*_

_“He says that his older brother did it.”_

_“His older brother?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Can you get him to say his brother’s name?”_

_*Distantly* “Hey, stay with me. Come on. Can you tell us who your older brother is?”_

_*inaudible*_

_“He says his older brother’s name is Michael Peters.”_

_“Can he tell us if there was a weapon used?”_

_*distantly* “Was there any weapons used?”_

_*inaudible*_

_“He says Michael beat him with a baseball bat.” *Distantly* “Hey, don’t close your eyes on me. You’re going to be okay.”_

_“Emergency services are on their way. Don’t hang up. Did Michael drive him to this spot?”_

_“Hold on.” *Distantly* “Where you driven here?” *Inaudible* “He says he can’t remember.”_

* * *

It took five hours for Reggie to finally talk to police in the hospital. Apparently one of his ribs was broken so severely it needed to be removed because of the beating his brother dealt him.

“Any reason why your brother did it?” asked the male police officer, Officer Barbour.

Reggie stopped to think about it. “Well, he was – oh, shit.”

“What?” asked the other male police officer, Officer Jones.

“Chris. He was there too,” said Reggie.

“Who’s Chris?” asked Officer Barbour.

“He’s one of Michael’s friends,” said Reggie. “I heard Michael arguing with someone. I went downstairs to see who he was arguing with, but he and his friends were attacking someone. So I went to stop it, and it was Chris on the ground. Then Michael shoved me into the counter and forced me on the ground and he started…stomping on me. He told the others not to stop and not to let me go, and Michael returned with a baseball bat. I was confused because I never saw it before at all, so he must’ve recently bought it. Then Michael started beating me with it.”

“Did he normally act like this towards you?” asked Officer Jones. “Being aggressive, I mean?”

Reggie sighed and launched into how his brother was towards him growing up, finally opening up about the dunkings, swirlies, and the beatings.

After he was done, Officer Barbour muttered, “God, what a dick.”

A nurse, who was hot, Reggie could tell that the man definitely worked out, walked in.

“We tried getting a hold of your parents, but there was no answer,” said the nurse. Reggie wasn’t surprised. “He also needs rest; he’s been through a terrible ordeal.”

Reggie wasn’t surprised, since his brother tried to turn him into ground beef with a baseball bat.

* * *

The next day, Reggie had to borrow a cell phone from someone to call his friends to get them to come over. Well, Alex, Luke, and Bobby didn’t answer, but surprisingly Julie did.

“Hello?” asked Julie. She sounded a little worried.

Reggie started, “Hey, Julie—”

“Reggie, where are you?” Julie demanded, “You’re not answering your phone, your home is taped off, the police won’t tell us what’s going on because it’s an active crime investigation, and Luke is—”

Whatever Julie was going to say because Luke apparently took Julie’s phone away from and Luke started in with something that he couldn’t hear because Alex, Bobby, and Julie started trying to talk to Reggie at the same time over the phone and Reggie would’ve laughed at the mental image of his friends surrounding one cell phone and trying to talk at the same time, but in this situation, it wasn’t funny.

“Tell me, did you finally murder your asshole brother?” called Bobby, sounding to excited over the idea of Michael being killed.

At least Reggie managed to hear that. So he said, “No, I’m in the hospital.”

* * *

Reggie hated having to explain the story of what had happened for the third time, (the first time was to the police officers, and the second time was to his parents) but at least his friends were calm enough to sit and listen to it. Luke had joined Reggie in the hospital bed, snuggled up on Reggie’s good side.

Alex looked like he was going to cry after he was finished and Bobby looked like he was going to destroy Michael himself. Julie actually had tears rolling down her cheeks. So Reggie did the best thing he could do was hold out his arms for a group hug, which was accepted.

Reggie ended up in the most awkward group hug that they ever had, because Reggie was still in the hospital bed, and everyone basically piled up on one another, trying to be careful not to injure Reggie any further.

It was very awkward, but Reggie loved it. It got a little awkward when the nurse walked in, but he just smiled, and walked back out, like he knew that they needed their moment.

“On the bright side,” said Reggie. “At least Michael is in police custody.”

* * *

It turned out that either Michael or Jacob (one of Michael’s friends) shot and killed Chris. There was a lot of finger-pointing between either one, besides that, Jacob, was the one who owned the gun.

With the way that Michael was, Reggie was sure that Michael was the one who pulled the trigger, angry at Chris trying to defend Reggie.

Their defense was that Chris smoked the entire weed that they had and they got pissed, which ended with Chris being killed. That story was the stupidest thing Reggie heard and had laughed at it because there were five guys in their group and one dude smoked all of it. Besides, it wasn’t like they couldn’t just go out and buy more. Besides that, he didn’t even smell weed in the kitchen. So, there was that.

Reggie hoped that Michael was being a good prison-wife for some convict. He voiced that thought to Luke who agreed and kissed him and then hugged him, glad that Reggie wouldn't see that asshole for at least thirty years.


	2. The Curtain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of Reggie’s friends think that Reggie has a perfect life, living in a house on the beach, having an older brother that “cares” for him, and having parents that encourage his music. However, if they were to look through the curtains, they’ll see that the Peters family is not as perfect as they think. They quickly realize that the Peters family isn’t perfect.

> “ _Everyone thinks that we’re perfect,  
> _ _Please don’t let them look through the curtains._ ”
> 
> Dollhouse – Melanie Martinez

“Your family seems so perfect,” said Alex.

“What about Julie’s, Luke’s, and Bobby’s?” asked Reggie.

“Well, you have both of your parents,” said Julie.

“My mom is on medication for bipolar and my dad works as a priest, who actually drinks alcohol,” said Bobby. “And Derek is…Derek.”

“My mom argues over me being a musician,” said Luke.

And all of them have parents that sound a hell of a lot better than Reggie’s life.

* * *

They were arguing again. It was nothing new. They were arguing about him, Michael, and the side-dish that Reggie’s dad was banging.

Of course no one knew about all of it.

His parents were based on appearances. Appear to be perfect and no one will know how fractured their family really is.

Besides that, no one will believe Reggie on what his brother does to him.

So, he was listening to his parents argue as he sat on the bathroom, wet from Michael giving him a bathtub dunking.

“I know that you’re banging that slut! Just fucking admit it!” yelled Reggie’s mother.

Reggie sighed and Michael hit the bathroom door.

“Stop jerking off in there! I have to use it too!” yelled Michael.

Reggie got up and went to open the door. Michael grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the bathroom, pushing him right into the wall. Michael slammed the door shut.

Reggie decided to go down to the beach.

* * *

The first person to realize that the Peters family isn’t perfect is Alex. Alex was over at Reggie’s home, when it happened.

They were in the kitchen, trying to do homework; instead they were just laughing and talking, the homework forgotten.

“How long do you think it will take before Julie and Luke get together?” Reggie asked Alex.

“Never,” replied Alex, giving Reggie a knowing look.

Trying to figure out why Alex looks at you like he knows all your deepest secrets was annoying and nerve-wracking.

 _What the hell does Alex know?_ Reggie wondered.

The door slammed shut and Reggie _almost_ flinched. Thank god he didn’t.

“Mom! Get up!” yelled Michael, “Mom! Dad’s with that slut again! Mom!”

Reggie got annoyed and got up to look at his older brother. “She’s passed out drunk, Michael.”

“Shut the fuck up,” snarled Michael. “I’m not talking to you.”

He unplugged a lamp and pretended to throw it at Reggie. Michael took immense enjoyment in the fact that Reggie flinched. Michael laughed, set the lamp down, flicked Reggie in the eye, and went upstairs.

Reggie returned to the kitchen.

Alex was frowning, “Your mother drinks?”

“Kind of,” replied Reggie.

“And is your dad having an _affair_?” asked Alex incredulous.

“Yeah,” said Reggie. “Now do you still think my life is perfect?”

Alex didn’t say anything.

* * *

The second person was Bobby and that was he because he found out by accident.

Alex had stayed silent on the subject of Reggie’s home-life, something that Reggie was glad for.

Reggie’s mother, Jasmine, had to go out on some type of business thing, so she was gone for a week.

So, Bobby and Reggie were at the beach, hanging out in front of the house.

“What is your brother doing on the roof?” asked Bobby, looking behind him.

Reggie turned and looked. He saw his brother and looked back at the ocean. “He’s trying to grow weed.”

“On the _roof_?” asked Bobby incredulously.

“Yeah,” said Reggie with a shrug. Something fell right behind him. He flinched and turned to see that it was a pot with leaves. He glared at his brother, and yelled, “I’m guessing that it didn’t go well?”

“I blame you!” yelled Michael.

“Of course you do,” muttered Reggie.

Bobby looked at the pot and soil. It was dangerously close to Reggie, especially if it was thrown at him from the goddamn roof. “He could’ve…” He trailed off, noticing something. “Is that your dad?”

Reggie turned to look. “Yeah, and that’s the side-dish that he’s eating.”

Bobby shoved him, looking disgusted, “You’re disgusting.”

Reggie laughed.

Bobby now looked alarmed. “You should tell your mother. That isn’t right.”

“She knows, dude,” said Reggie. “She’s not happy with it. I bet everything that my brother owns that she really isn’t on her business trip and is trying to get a lawyer to divorce him.”

Bobby frowned, “How long has this been going on?”

“As far as I know, two weeks,” said Reggie. “Michael says that he’s been having an affair for a month. And knowing Michael…he’s right.” He looked like he was having Vietnam flashbacks, “He always is….”

Bobby decided to leave Reggie to his war flashbacks, and placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

And Reggie got pink-eye from a swirlie that Michael gave him because he saw the whole “hand-on-shoulder” thing, because Michael loved torturing Reggie.

* * *

The third person was Luke, because of course he has to be there when Michael keeps sending Reggie mocking texts. Michael has sent many insulting and cruel texts to Reggie before, but this takes the cake.

However, today Michael was mocking Reggie over some cocaine usage. Reggie only tried just the once out of curiosity and Michael found out…now Michael was going in asshole mode and was mocking him for being a junkie. It was big talk for a guy who was trying to grow weed on the roof of the house at one point.

“Who is texting you so damn much?” Luke asked, sounding annoyed.

“Michael,” said Reggie. “He’s teasing me for snorting the devil’s dandruff.”

“The what now?” asked Luke confused.

“The devil’s dandruff,” said Reggie, “Cocaine.”

“You’re snorting coke now?” asked Luke bewildered. Who the fuck was this guy now? You thought you know a person, but then they spring this shit on you. He thought he knew Reggie, but apparently not.

“No, no, _no_!” Reggie said quickly. “I thought I would try it once. I’m not trying it ever again.”

“Good,” said Luke. “Why would you try it anyway?”

“Thought it would help block out my parents’ arguing,” Reggie grumbled, and winced when he realized he said too much.

“You’re parents argue?” Luke asked sounding concerned.

Reggie nodded, “Yeah. Have trouble sleeping at times.”

“What do they argue about?” asked Luke now looking worried.

“The usual, me, Michael, my dad’s side-dish, the money they keep wasting by having me in the music program, taking care of Michael's ass since he doesn't have a job,” said Reggie.

“Wait, you said ‘my dad’s side dish’? He’s having an _affair_?” asked Luke, now looking at Reggie with wide-eyes. He truly didn’t know Reggie at all apparently. Who was this stranger that he, admittedly, has a crush on?

“Yeah, it’s not okay, but hopefully that’s enough of a reason for them to finally get a divorce,” said Reggie.

“How…how long have they been arguing for?” asked Luke.

Reggie looked like he was thinking about it. “I think it started when I was four-years-old.”

Luke couldn’t stop himself from pulling Reggie into a hug, mostly because he wanted to hug him, but this was a good enough reason to hug him. “I’m sorry that you’re in the middle of that.”

Reggie snorted and muttered, “That’s not the worst of it.”

“There’s _more_?” asked Luke horrified.

“I’d rather not talk about it right now,” said Reggie.

“Okay, that’s fine,” said Luke. “You’ll talk when you’re ready.”

“Thanks Luke,” said Reggie, “for everything.”

“I’ll always be here for you,” said Luke, “For anything.”

He considered the idea of kissing Reggie, it felt like a good moment to do so, but the door opened, and the others walked in.

“Stop making out, we have things to do,” said Bobby.

Later, when Reggie was back at home, their parents were fighting again.

“I can’t wait ‘til that pain in the ass turns eighteen so I can divorce your ass!” yelled Gerald.

“Why don’t you do it right now, so you can marry that whore that you’re fucking?” yelled Jasmine.

“I don’t want to pay child support for that brat!” yelled Gerald.

“You do know that ‘ _the brat_ ’ is sitting right here, right?” asked Reggie. Michael was looking amused, because Reggie getting insulted by other people was one of his favorite things to watch.

A vase flew and almost hit Reggie in the face. It shattered, water and all, on the ground.

Reggie was too stunned at the fact his mother just threw that at _him_.

The amused look that Michael wore was instantly wiped away into something akin of horror.

No, that couldn’t be right…Michael would’ve laughed at what happened.

Reggie didn’t understand it.

“What the fuck, Mom?” Michael yelled, looking at their mother. “Are you trying to make it obvious?”

And there it was…Michael worrying over it being obvious. No care, no worry.

And Michael threw a pot of pot at him, so there was that.

And did anyone care that Jasmine could have killed Reggie?

No.

Would Jasmine regret it if she did accidentally kill Reggie? Reggie wasn’t sure. Maybe she threw the vase at him to get him to shut up.

Or maybe Michael was mad that Jasmine tried to kill Reggie before Michael got the chance to attempt to murder him.

Especially with what would go down in the kitchen one day.

* * *

The fourth person was Flynn. She was over at Reggie’s house. Thankfully Michael wasn’t home yet, because Reggie could practically hear Michael sneering, “ _you’re not fooling me, ass-face_ ” at him.

They were just writing some country-pop song together and having fun writing it.

The door slammed shut.

“Where do you think you’re going? I’m not done with you yet!” yelled Jasmine.

Reggie sighed and Flynn looked concerned.

“Get off my back woman! You’re not innocent as you act!” yelled Gerald.

He walked in the kitchen, looked at Flynn and Reggie. Gerald forced a smile. It looked painful, “Hello, I didn’t know Reggie had a friend over.”

“I’m Flynn,” Flynn greeted, looking awkward.

“I’m sorry you had to hear that disagreement,” said Gerald practically oozing false cheerfulness.

Reggie played with the pencil, somehow sending it across the kitchen, nearly hitting Michael, who just walked in the kitchen with his friends.

Michael groaned, “Really? Why is the kitchen always so fucking packed?”

“Language, Michael. You’re in the presence of a lady,” admonished Gerald.

“Up yours, old man,” grumbled Michael.

Gerald rolled his eyes, way to used to being back-talked by a moody nineteen-year-old. And Michael swears that Reggie is the moody, angsty one?

Reggie gritted his teeth as everyone started talking over one another. Flynn started gathering her things, so Reggie gathered his things and had to maneuver around the pack of adults.

“Watch it!” yelled Jacob, at least Reggie was sure that he was Jacob.

“Sorry!” Reggie called.

“Not you,” said Jacob. “Fucking Matt is stepping on my foot.”

They finally made it out of the kitchen, but Michael followed after, deciding that it was a great time to flick Reggie’s ear.

“Stop it, Michael,” Reggie said. He would deny it that he was whining.

“You’re not fooling anyone,” Michael whispered to Reggie.

“Go to hell,” replied Reggie, flipping him off as they walked out the door. They went down to the docks. “Sorry about all that. My dad trying to argue with my mom and Michael was going to start smoking weed.”

“Its fine,” said Flynn. “But do they do that a lot?”

“Yeah,” admitted Reggie, “Very frequently. The arguing and smoking pot thing.”

“Is that why you’re always tired?” asked Flynn. “They fight constantly?”

“Right past midnight to if they feel up to it,” said Reggie. “I think the longest they argued was up past four A.M.”

“Geez,” said Flynn. “If you want, you can take naps at my place.”

“Thanks Flynn,” said Reggie. “I might take you up on that offer.”

And a few days later, Reggie did fall asleep on the couch at Flynn’s home and she took one with him, choosing to sleep on the floor. It was oddly nice.

* * *

The last person was Julie. She came by for something that Reggie forgot, and she decided to stay. So they were in Reggie’s room playing around while listening to some obnoxious music. Reggie was trying to balance a pencil on his top lip and Julie found a hula-hoop that Reggie once owned. He was embarrassed that she found that, but she seemed excited to be holding one. “I always wanted one of these.”

“You could get them at Wal-Mart,” said Reggie holding the pencil.

“I feel like I would get strange looks,” said Julie. “I think I’ll st – borrow yours.”

“Keep it,” said Reggie.

Julie practically glowed as she stands on Reggie’s bed, (in her socks) and tries to hula with the hoop.

Reggie busts out laughing at Julie’s attempt, and she’s cracking up because she looked happy that Reggie was happy. Julie tried a few more times, making the bed squeak at she did so.

“You’re not doing it correctly,” said Reggie.

The door opened.

“You know…that conversation could really be taken out of context, just saying,” said Michael. “And the bed squeaking makes it even worse.”

If Reggie barged in Michael’s room, Michael would throw something heavy at him. If Reggie threw something at Michael, he would get a bathtub dunk or a swirlie…or a punch to the face.

“Right,” mumbled Reggie.

Michael left, closing the door, and Reggie looked at Julie, who seemed amused. “Sorry about him.”

“Why? It kind of is true,” said Julie. She frowned, “If it was taken out of context…how come he just walked in? We could have been…you know.”

“He thinks that I’m gay and not bi,” said Reggie, with a shrug. “If we were…I wonder what his face expression would’ve been.”

“And you’re not going to find out,” said Julie quickly. “Luke would be pissed if we did.”

“Why would he be mad?” asked Reggie.

Julie rolled her eyes and Reggie could’ve sworn that she muttered, “Hopeless, the both of you.”

“What?” asked Reggie.

“Nothing,” said Julie.

Reggie got a text message and he took out his phone and looked at it. He groaned. Michael sent him a recording and Reggie didn’t have to play it to know what Michael sent him.

“What is it?” asked Julie.

“He sent me a recording and I already know what it’s on it,” said Reggie.

Julie grimaced, “He recorded that?”

Thankfully the door slammed shut and Julie flinched in surprise.

Then the yelling started and Reggie groaned. His name was said, because of course it was about him. It was probably something about him falling asleep in class. _Again_.

“So, you want to go for a walk?” asked Reggie.

Julie nodded and put her shoes on.

“I apologize for their argument,” said Reggie.

Something smashed on the ground and Julie flinched again.

Reggie just sighed, “And for hearing that.” Julie hugged him, taking him by surprise. “What’s this for?”

“For having to go through this and hearing that,” said Julie. “It’s clear that it’s happened before.”

“Hey, shut the fuck up!” yelled Michael.

“You go to hell you fucking brat!” yelled Jasmine.

“Okay, sorry,” said Michael.

* * *

Reggie finally admitted to his friends what his home-life was like, considering that all of them found out about the arguments and the whole affair thing.

At least they don’t know the extant of the bullying that Michael was putting Reggie through. Them knowing about the fighting was something that Reggie could handle, the bullying was the thing that he couldn’t talk about. They wouldn’t believe him anyway.

Of course they found out eventually.

Especially with what goes down in the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to add that they didn't really know Michael, like they saw him around and saw a few of the "friendlier" interactions that Michael and Reggie had. They didn't interact with him, so they don't know him. So before Reggie started talking about Michael's bullying they kind of thought that he was nice.


End file.
